USF Department of Communication

Congratulations to faculty colleague Dr. Ángel Maldonado, who was recently interviewed by Dr. Toby Miller about his scholarly book on Miller's podcast, culturalstudies! Listen to the episode, "Ángel Maldonado on rhetoric and Mexico," here: https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-ygpa2-1aea900

Congratulations to faculty colleague Dr. Patrice Buzzanell, and to faculty emeriti Drs. Carolyn Ellis and Art Bochner! In the 2026 Edition of Research.com's Ranking of Top Scientists in the field of Social Sciences and Humanities, Dr. Ellis ranked #1 among all Social Sciences and Humanties Scholars at USF, Dr. Bocher ranked #4, and Dr. Buzanell ranked #9 based on their publication and citation records. All three also ranked in the top 4500 of Social Sciences and Humanties scholars in the world, and top 2100 of scholars in the United States! For more information, see https://research.com/university/social-sciences-and-humanities/university-of-south-florida

Congratulations to faculty colleague Dr. Aisha Durham! She was featured by the Tampa Bay Times about an app she designed, LippyLog, to help people with lipedema track their symptoms. Read the article here: https://www.tampabay.com/news/health/2026/05/18/it-took-years-get-lipedema-diagnosis-she-built-an-app-help/

Congratulations to graduate student colleague Imran Alimov, who recently passed his MA comprehensive exams!

Congratulations to graduate student colleague Monira Begum, who received a Top Student Paper Award from the Health Communication Division at the 2026 Southern States Communication Association Convention for her paper, "The Quality-Reach Paradox: How Digital Platform Algorithms Shape Cardio-Health Information Access for the Elderly People."

We'd like to feature the work of one of our undergraduate seniors, Julia Pollard! For her Capstone project, she created Planting Tampa Bay, a community outreach project focused on promoting native wildflowers, pollinator support, and local environmental awareness in the Tampa Bay area through the distribution of native wildflower seed packets and short informational flyers. The Capstone course is a process-based learning experience taken by all Communication students as part of our program, where projects are developed through structured support of the course.
Planting Tampa Bay connects to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal #15, Life on Land, by encouraging people to support biodiversity and protect local ecosystems through small, realistic actions.
As part of the project, Julia raised over $270 to purchase the wildflower seeds and packet materials. The packets gave participants an easy way to plant flowers in their area and learn how they support local pollinators. Speaking on her work, Julia noted that "overall, Planting Tampa Bay showed that helping the environment does not always have to involve a huge event or major commitment. Sometimes, it can start with something as simple as planting seeds and understanding why they matter."
After graduation, Julia hopes to continue her work in the event planning field, and to eventually work for major beauty brands like Sephora and Ulta. She recently began a full time position at New Wave, a nonprofit event planning company, while also working part time at Chili's. Elaborating on her current positions, Julia stated "Both roles have helped me build strong communication, customer service, and planning skills. I’m excited to keep gaining hands on experience and build a career in an industry that I’m passionate about."
To view Planting Tampa Bay project photos, visit here. https://www.canva.com/design/DAHI4Gusyac/JyFRgHBGXUqEdP8lvsFrvw/edit

Congratulations to gradute student colleague Bianca Siegenthaler! Her co-authored article, “From isolation to connection: Reflections on peer networks and research resilience from the 2025 rEACH Summer School,” was published in Patient Education & Counseling! She and her team of international health communication scholars were invited to publish the paper as part of their experiences as fellows in the rEACH Summer School program. Read the article here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0738399126002016?via%3Dihub

Congratulations to faculty colleagues Drs. Marleah Dean Kruzel, Patrick McElearney, and Josh Scacco! Dr. Patrick McElearney has been promoted to associate professor of instruction, and Dr. Dean Kruzel and Scacco have been promoted to full professor rank!

Congratulations to undergraduate student Alyssa Fraser on being featured in the most recent edition of CAS Chronicles! Check out her article for more on what our Mellon internship students have been up to!

Internship grant opens doors for humanities students University of South Florida

Sirrina Martinez is a first-year doctoral student in the Department of Communication at the University of South Florida. Her research is at an intersection of organizational and health communication, focusing on military organizations and the Department of Veterans Affairs. She is currently working as a research health technician with I-Heal. Sirrina has been serving in the Minnesota Army National Guard for over 22 years, bringing firsthand knowledge about military/veteran experiences and communities.